The Chilean Military and Ufology: An Asymmetrical Relationship

02.06.2010 06:42 UFO - Source: UFO Digest

Scott Corrales is the director of the Institute of Hispanic Ufology (IHU) and is the author of "Chupacabras: And Other Mysteries " and "Flashpoint: High Strangeness in Puerto Rico". Scott is also a translator and translates news stories from Spanish speaking news media and spreads the news to the English speaking news media. Visit Scott's website at: http://inexplicata.blogspot.com/. You can contact Scott by email at lornis1@earthlink.net.

The Chilean Military and Ufology: An Asymmetrical Relationship
by Raul Nunez, IIEE
Translated by Scott Corrales

Posted: 14:00 February 3, 2010

The oft-commented relationship between Ufology and the Military has always been a subject of conversation worldwide. It is hardly a mystery that this relationship has always been marked by mutual mistrust, except for honorable exceptions that always prove the rule, and show us that some military men have indeed paid special attention to the subject of UFOs and have even taken the chance to make public comments to the displeasure of their superiors. In Chile the CEFAA (Comit? de Estudios de Fen?menos A?reos An?malos) led by Gen. Ricardo Bermudez (Ret.) and General Luis Henriquez (Ret.) strove for mutual cooperation between researchers and the military. The reality is that there's been very little progress in deciphering the large number of UFO cases in this country. It should be added, at this point, that there has been a great decline in the phenomenon since December 2004. Perhaps one of the causes for this have been grotesque photos of alleged ET s and similar elements that have made the phenomenon disreputable in Chile. As of mid-2009, there has been an increase in sightings in many parts of the world.

There is mistrust on the part of official, governmental and military organizations toward persons who dub themselves “ufologists”, making it clear that the latter have never measured up to the circumstances by giving priority to television projects and pointless bickering between organizations that have never achieved concrete results. Many of these ufologists still believe that the Chilean military, or dependencies of these official bodies, are going to give them “confidential” information regarding the secrets of Chile’s enormous UFO case histories. Anyone entertaining such thoughts is deluded. Regarding this, former Spanish ufologist Juan Jos? Benitez (known worldwide thanks to his science-fiction novels) has said more than once that former dictator Augusto Pinochet provided him with privileged information on the case known worldwide as the “Corporal Vald?s case” – all this before the very noses of “long-suffering” Chilean ufologists who are supposedly trying to clear up these manipulated events. As of late 2005, matters remain much the same. Statements are made about the wonders of CEFAA, yet little or nothing is known about the ufologists. As for Corporal Vald?s, we are well aware of his latest “cosmic and mystical” endeavors for some time now (See NOUFA, October 13, 2009)

At this point, it should be noted that journalist Patricio Abusleme has taken on the Vald?s Case as a personal challenge. He has visited the place where the events took place in the company of Corporal Vald?s himself, and has unraveled some myths that had emerged around the case, and we only have to wait for this project to be published in the near future, and hopefully the information will be available to more than just a few. In the meantime, we are still waiting for a book by Corporal – now a civilian – Armando Vald?s Garrido.